The surprising, stealth rebirth of the American arcade

Nostalgia and alcohol fuel a gaming comeback.

Sharing the nostalgia

Classic arcade games might seem like a tough sell to kids who grew up in a world without a strong arcade culture, but the new arcade owners I talked to said their selections of primarily retro games appeal to all ages.

"It's been really cool to see parents come in with their kids and both play for an hour or two on one particular game," Darling said. "Kids come in who probably don't know what the word 'arcade' was. We've had 6, 7, 8, 9 year olds come in... The goal was for parents to come and share an experience with their kids and actually compete with their kids on games they grew up with. That's been really fun to watch."

Enlarge/ The '80s themed ZAP Arcade is designed as a place where parents and children can commune together over the cabinets of yesteryear.

Insert Coin(s)' Laporte said he gets plenty of customers who are just barely of legal drinking age, and who are looking for a more physical/social gaming experience than anything they can get sitting at home and playing online.

"The last time I played Modern Warfare on Xbox Live, I stopped playing because I was tired of hearing these immature rants," he said. "We have people playing each other face to face in our bar, they're high fiving, they're congratulatory, they're respectful, they're having a good time. When you play online, you just want to scream sometimes. [The arcade] is just a better experience."

That doesn't mean the 30- and 40-somethings that grew up during the arcade's golden age aren't some of the best customers for today's new arcades, which are usually filled with the games from their youth. "From what I have observed, nostalgia is a major factor in driving play," Arcades Heroes' Pratt said. "Nostalgia not just for the game itself but for playing it on real hardware in a location where you also can get that social angle from it."

Enlarge/ People getting their game and drink on during opening night at Emporium Arcade and Bar.

Classic arcade games offer customers an alternative to games that Emporium's Marks said have gotten "too complicated and flashy. I've been having conversations around the bar with people at different times where we talk about—even from a home gaming standpoint—we kind of miss the days where things were a little simpler and you didn't have two joysticks, where you're turning your head with one and moving with the other like in a Halo-type game."

Pratt, too, has become jaded about modern game design, but he can easily get into arcade games that "don't require a great investment of time but are still satisfying, since they are designed for quick play packed with action."

"I think every 30 years you get this kind of recycling where whatever was popular 30 years previously becomes popular again," ZAP Arcade's Darling said. "Outside of the whole '80s resurgence, I think there's something to be said for people wanting to feel like a kid again in a world that's very unstable in very uncertain times, both economically and maybe even socially. I think people are looking for something that reminds them of a better time, and that might be part of what brings people in the door."

The rose-colored memories of those early arcade experiences can make players forget about the classic arcade's punishing difficulty, though. "Especially the '80s games are incredibly difficult, and they forgot about that," Marks said. "It's almost like working out, where they haven't worked out for 20 years, and they're trying to bench the same amount they could 20 years ago, and they're like 'Oh, right, I have to build up to where I used to be.'"

More disposable income can also make the modern arcade experience different for today's nostalgia-filled gamers. Marks said he's run in to a lot of people who never could afford to beat The Simpsons arcade game when growing up, but who will easily invest $5 and a couple of hours into beating it now that they have the money. Darling said that putting his games on free play means kids can easily play through a game like X-men in a couple of hours—something which unlocks a more difficult version of the game (which I never had the money to discover when growing up).

Retro-futuristic

One of these tokens is all it takes to play any game at the Emporium bar/arcade in Chicago.

The risk of relying on retro game nostalgia (or even "new-stalgia" for gaming's past among a younger generation) is that players will eventually get tired of playing the same games over and over. And with the production of new arcade games slowing to a trickle in recent years, few new experiences exist to keep gamers coming back.

The arcade owners I spoke to don't seem worried about this potential problem, pointing to the timeless, never-ending quality of most classic arcade titles. "Games like Galaga and Ms. Pac-man, you're just never going to beat," Darling said. Marks went so far as to say the reliance on old titles was almost helpful, because the massive back catalog provides "an endless number of titles we could add to the bar still and rotate games in and out. We don't have a Frogger right now, but the second we have Frogger, everyone who was playing Pac-Man will come back and play Frogger again."

And despite the industry's stagnation, there are still a handful of new arcade titles appearing in the US market. Pratt points out that popular mobile games like Fruit Ninja, Flight Control, and Infinity Blade have all been adapted quite successfully into super-sized, touch-screen-equipped arcade editions. Most of today's arcade releases are stuck in the relatively narrow light-gun and racing genres, though, a situation Pratt would like to see change.

That might be a hard sell when the American arcade industry, such as it is, is still dominated by two redemption-game mega-chains: the child-focused Chuck E. Cheese's and the adult-focused Dave & Buster's.

Insert Coin(s)' Laporte upbraided Dave & Buster's in particular as "missing the mark" because "gamers aren't running them. You don't have a true video game culture to embrace it, because there's no video game culture in the organization, I would assume. Dave & Buster's is a profit-making machine. Whether it's those crane machines or some kind of ticket distribution with skee ball or something, you're not going to make money outside of those revenue streams."

"Let's see more of those shoot 'em ups, like you see in Japan," he continued. "Let's see more mech games. You have to bring those out and really show where the future of arcade gaming is. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 should be everywhere right now, but it'll only be in Japan. You can bring it to the States, but not with what the States are currently utilizing in the arcades.

Good article. Glad to know these places are coming back as a kind of niche entertainment option.

Emporium in Wicker Park is nice. However, they are limited in having only 30 machines or so and it seems like 5 are broken everytime I go there.

I have to give props to an arcade I went to in the Brookfield suburb of Chicago called Galloping Ghost Arcade. They had 150 machines and a pinball room all for $15 play-all-day. I got to play some machines I hadn't seen in decades. My friends and I had a blast and we would go again easily. The only negative is that they don't have any alcohol to sell but plenty of soft drinks and other snacks. It's not designed to be an Emporium or Insert Coin disco.

If you find yourself in Denver, you have the choice of either 1UP (the original but frequently packed barcade) in LoDo or 2UP on Colfax which opened more recently and is my preferred haunt as its typically not as packed as 1UP.

This place in Austin, Texas, has a good bit of classic arcade games, but they focus mainly on Pinball machines. It's really seriously awesome, though, and I visit anytime I can get back to my former college-town home: http://www.pinballzarcade.com

One caveat: It's BYOB. But that's still ok by me. And maybe that works even better for you, depending on your situation.

When I saw the title, my first reaction was "oh really?" But then I remembered Add-A-Ball in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood (http://add-a-ball.com/), and Shorty's in Belltown. Same business model described in the article, run by and catering primarily to 30+ gamer geeks with disposable incomes.

The shopping mall arcade is largely dead now, and I honestly don't miss it. Either badly maintained games being further destroyed by unsupervised children, or a scene that's so seedy you're afraid of what might happen if you actually won. The arcades that are seeing success are a part of the yuppie night life, along with moderately priced foodie restaurants and cocktail bars.

They serve the same purpose as they did when we were kids, except that instead of waiting for our parents to pick us up, we're amusing ourselves until our funk wears off and we can go home.

There's a Barcade in Jersey City as well. The crowd is a mix of locals, hipsters, the after work crowd and students, and everyone gets along. The beer selection is pretty good also, with frequent craft brew tastings. I've been trying to get my name up on the board for the Star Wars and Gauntlet games, with no luck so far.

I went to the american classic arcade museum in Laconia, NH last weekend. Largest arcade I have seen... in fact they say it is the largest in the world... three floors of classic games, some of which I never had a chance to play on real, original, hardware. (only in MAME)

The Lost Ark in Greensboro, NC has a nice selection of pinball and classic stand-up video games. They also have used console games (all the way back to the Atari 2600) for sell or trade. No alcohol, but family frendly. http://www.lostarkvideogames.com/

James Games http://www.facebook.com/pages/James-Gam ... 1377702099 in Upland California still has the X-Men Vs. Street Fighter cabinet I've played on since high school. Sadly, I don't get over there too often these days but to my knowledge the fight game scene there just keeps growing.

Family Fun Arcade, Granada Hills (AFAIK, the site doesn't have a web site of its own, and I haven't actually been here in years.)Family Amusement Arcade, next to Los Angeles City CollegePins & Needles, a combination sound studio and pinball arcade. Currently boasts 24 pinball machines, most of which are old electromechanical machines. They do have Tron Legacy, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Whitewater, and a few other high-profile solid-state machines, though.

And, as I said before, I'm trying to launch my own pinball arcade, and I can use all the support I can get! =^_^=

The Pacific Pinball museum has a pinball focus, but has some other games and exhibits as well. For $15 you get a full day's worth of unlimited play, on over 80 machines, they're open until midnight Friday and Saturday, with in/out, so you can go out for a bite and come back, or head over for a drink at the local lounge.

Every year, they put on the Pacific Pinball Expo, with a seriously huge collection of pinball machines from throughout history.

It's certainly a different type of arcade than what is discussed in the article, but then again Manitou Springs is a different type of town. Colorado hippy/new age/funky/snow bum is how I'd describe it.

Scores of old pinball machines, all sorts of old electromechanical games (from the 60s and earlier), plus plenty of classic video games.

AFAIK, everything costs the orginal price. It must be a labor of love, no idea how it stays in business. I last visted in 2003 but it looks like it's still around, and of course now the games are even older.

Also there is a place in Southampton, PA called TNT Amusements. Their main thing is selling machines, but you can also rent out the place for a night and go nuts on free play. I had my 29th birthday there. http://www.tntamusements.com/

I can't think of many arcades in the Philly area outside of the D&B's and the Barcade. There used to be a Jillian's in the Franklin Mills Mall (had an old skool Ars meet there close to 10 years ago!). I think that is a D&B now.

If you travel north about an hour (or about 30 minutes from Boulder), you can find Lyons Classic Pinball: http://www.lyonspinball.com/ -- they've got about 40 pinball machines and I can only say good things about the guys running it.

Next door to Lyons Classic Pinball is Oskar Blues, a brewpub with a complement of about 20 retro games: http://www.oskarblues.com/ -- the Oskar Blues in Longmont, CO has ~5 or 6 games.

I'm very, very happy that arcades seem to slowly be coming back. Now if I could find one with a KI2 machine or a Gauntlet Legends/Dark Legacy machine... maybe Night Striker...

I want an arcade here in town but Jillians killed the concept here in Louisville with crazy stupid prices for games that were not kept up and running. Incredible Dave's copped out and went the ticket redemption route instead of say a new Mech Warrior. Too often these arcades rely on the nostalgia and charge 50c or $1.00 for a Galaga/Ms Pac Man that hasn't seen a maintenance guy in 5 years.

Check out Zanzabar in Germantown (http://www.zanzabarlouisville.com/). It's a lot smaller than most of these others, but the other arcades here aren't in Louisville . They've got a good selection, maybe 12-15 machines, with a good representation of the classics. They don't really play it up on their website, but you can see the Tron and Joust machines in a couple of pics in the photo gallery!

There is a place in Atlanta called Battle and Brew. Instead of traditional arcade games, they set up big screens with consoles all over the place and lots of social games. You rent them by the hour. It works really well, especially when you want to hang out with a group.

Star Worlds Arcade in Dekalb, IL. Open since 1985 and the best arcade in the world. Walking in is like seeing history; old posters and pictures adorn the walls, including a lot of Twin Galaxies memorabilia.

Games range from Donkey Kong to Dance Dance Revolution to a PlayChoice 10, with games changing constantly to keep people coming back. SWA also has multiple pinball tables that are right there and not make you have to walk down the street to a nondescript building to play (like the Galloping Ghost).A lot of influential people go there too. I’ve met Walter Day (founder of Twin Galaxies) and Eugene Jarvis (creator of Defender, Robotron: 2084, NARC, Smash TV, and the Cruisin’ series) and a lot of other influential people in the arcade gaming world.

Pat and Glenn are super nice people and know how to run an arcade. A game breaks, it’s fixed quickly or replaced. If a game isn’t being played, they replace it with something that will be. Tournaments are run with prizes all the time, and big events where games are on free play, though uncommon, are a treat.It’s only $5 for 30 tokens, which can last you a long time in there. Only one or two tokens for most games, four for driving games, six for DDR. Plus you’re not having to feel like you have to stay all day because you paid the entrance fee; you can play out your tokens one night, and come back the next day and play another five, and you’ve spent three times less money than at an arcade like the Galloping Ghost.

If you’re ever in northern Illinois, you NEED to go there. You’d be doing yourself a disservice not to. The place is a piece of history and still making it too.

I've been feeling like there's a resurgence for a while now, especially in pinball. We were down to just one manufacturer for ages, and now a new one (JJP) as well as at least two others (one in the UK and one by a former designer) have sprouted up.

The reasoning about the current uncertain times and the psychology of wanting to go back to a comforting childhood memory rang very strong and very true to me. If it's true that there's a resurgence going on, and I hope it is, thank goodness for all those collectors out there who kept the machines from our childhoods alive and well during the dark days.

Kyle Orland / Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in the Washington, DC area.